Packwood bus mixup: Mad mom will get to simmer off behind bars

Updated

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The mother who left an angry voice message at White Pass school after finding her son was dropped off a school bus in a strange neighborhood was convicted today of two felonies.

Cheryl A. Strong, 48, of Packwood, was arrested in early March after the phone call that prompted a lockdown at the school when it was heard the following morning. She told a deputy she didn’t mean what she said.

“Sorry Chris, but I’m going to f****** shoot everybody that goes to your f****** school, works there,” was the statement listened to by Christy Collette, the school secretary and Rebecca Miner, the district superintendent.

The trial in Lewis County Superior Court began yesterday, with Strong taking the witness stand this morning.

The jury deliberated about two and half hours before finding Strong guilty of one count each of felony harassment, threats to kill, regarding Collette and Miner. The jury also made special findings the crime affected more than the two individuals named.

The family moved or was in the process of moving from one residence on U.S. Highway 12 to another the High Valley neighborhood.

Strong’s boyfriend  James Taylor said when the 7-year-old didn’t get let off the bus, they drove around looking and found him wandering in the High Valley, seven miles away.

The offense carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Judges in Washington are constrained by the 1981 Sentencing Reform Act to imposing sentences within a fixed standard range, which is based upon the seriousness level of the crime and the particular person’s criminal history – which in in this case would be 33 to 43 months in prison, according to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Mark McClain.

However, because the jury made the special findings regarding the so-called aggravators, the judge will be free to hand down the maximum if he chooses, McClain said. For Strong, the possibility exists of two five year sentences to be served consecutively, he said.

Strong remains free on bail until her sentencing, set for May 19 at 1 p.m.
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For background, read “Police: Angry mom’s message said she would shoot everyone at the grade school” from Friday March 7, 2014, here

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21 Responses to “Packwood bus mixup: Mad mom will get to simmer off behind bars”

  1. Slim shady says:

    Yes there is plenty of reason to threaten school officials they are paid too much to do nothing and they are rude on top of that! They do not own the students or their parents. Public servants should be individually and personally responsiblbe to the public for each negligent action!!! Everytime you sue them they make the taxpayers hire an attourney for them. Make them hire their own attourney just like the common citizen. Their snot nose attitude would change real quick. Super citizenry is not constitutional. Same with police officers.

  2. BUSTYBABE says:

    @JAKE- YOUR AN IDIOT AS THERES NO EXCUSE FOR THREATENING TO SHOOT UP A SCHOOL.BUT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT EITHER OF US THINK NOW.. CHERYL S BEEN LOCKED UP AND SENTENCED ALREADY.. THANK GOD FOR LEWIS COUNTY JUSTICE

  3. Jake says:

    Maybe the school should have dropped the kid off at the wrong spot and this wouldn’t have happened, maybe the school employee should have stayed at school till the kid was found. Or called the bus driver to go back and get the fuckimg kid. Honestly I think there are some school officials that need to answer for their wrongdoings, what if they didn’t find the kid? It would be on the school. They didn’t do their job, that’s why she was pissed. Bus drivers have lost their jobs over things like that you know, but nothing happened in this case. How odd?

  4. Mesayst says:

    You are so right about the bus driver who was so lacking in his job of taking proper care of the child in his care. I was wondering when some one would bring up that. Can you imagine what was going thru that little boys mind , left alone. How frightening that must of been for him. This is not taking away from the threats at WP. As for the person who feels the need to type in all caps, seems to me you have a anger issue yourself instead of commenting in a calm adult manner.

  5. Lisarae says:

    And by the way, High Valley is no wilderness. Talk about hysteria~

  6. Lisarae says:

    Hysteria? Over a school being in lock down? Thats called hysteria? Tell us Uintah…..did those children know there was no immediate danger to them while they were in lock down? And could you answer my previous question. Were you present between the conversation of the mom and school officials regarding where her child needed to be dropped off? Just how do you know what, if anything was even said? The error by the school, whether they are directly responsible or not, depending on whatever babble this mother gave them, is completely unacceptable. I never indicated otherwise, and I am sure they will be addressing their policies in that regard. I am a mother of past WP students, and have never defended them in any regard, about anything. However, if you read the article above, it is about the mother and her behavior, not the school and theirs. Get it?

  7. Uintah says:

    Despite the hysteria exhibited in most of these posts, the point remains the children in lockdown were in no real danger. A small boy whose own school deliberately let him off the bus to wander around several hours in a wilderness area– TWICE– is the only one who was in real, immediate danger. Folks aren’t noting this fact, much less exhibiting any concern over it or suggesting how to see that IT DOESN’T HAPPEN AGAIN. What if next time it’s a child the community actually values? One can only hope the father will stick around long enough to sue the hell out of WPSD so they start to pay attention.

  8. Karol Pedersen says:

    p.s my statement about convincing the judge are her own words telling my son””.the fight is still on

  9. Karol Pedersen says:

    rongreen and lisaray…You are both right and if i gave the impression that i want her to get of easy i’m sorry…she already is working on another plot and wants to take her child away from my son and ” GIVE” him to her Boyfriend.she convinced the Judge to sentence her 3 days after she regains custody . does that make sense? i will do what ever it takes for that not to happen…i hoped that she had enough love for my grandson to make sure he is in a safe enviroment while she pays her dues.but Foodstamps and child support is more important .the boyfriend has no job or he’s own place to call home..i have talked to a lot of Parents and what she did was horrific and unexusible i was just trying to figure out how someday to reunite my Grandson with a sober and straight thinking Mom.But her last action to destroy he’s young life took the cake…

  10. BustyBabe says:

    MY 11 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER IS A 6 TH GRADE STUDENT AT WHITE PASS AND WAS THERE THE MORNING THAT THE SCHOOL WAS PUT ON A 3 HOUR LOCKDOWN BECAUSE OF MS.STRONG’S THREATS..,WITH ALL STUDENTS HAVING TO STAY IN THEIR CLASSROOMS WITH DOORS LOCKED FOR THEIR SAFETY,,THEY HAD TO HAVE BLINDS LOWERED SO NOONE COULD SEE IN,, TELL ME,DOES SHE KNOW HOW SCARED THE STUDENTS WERE? @KAROL PEDERSON- U SAY SHE’S A DRUG& ALCOHOL USER AND NEEDS DRUG TREATMENT,,COUNSELING&,ANGER MANAGEMENT, AND OH U ALSO SAID” I HOPE THE JUDGE GIVES HER A BREAK? BULLSHIT,THERES NO EXCUSE FOR HER ACTIONS,,SHE KNOWS RIGHT FROM WRONG,,,AND SO I WILL PRAY THAT SHE GETS PRISON TIME AND DURING HER STAY IN PRISON,SHE WILL FEEL THE TERROR AND SCAREDNESS ,THAT SHE MADE MY DAUGHTER, AND OTHER STUDENTS GO THROUGH THAT MORNING,,,,AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE?? I WANT TO MEET THE BITCH WHO MADE MY DAUGHTER GO THOUGH THAT!

  11. Darren Hall says:

    Being under the influence only makes it worse as who knows what altered brains are thinking.
    Make an example of her.

  12. Lisarae says:

    One more thing Karol. I do not mean to judge you specifically for the behavior of your grandsons mother. Im really not even trying to judge her. However, I do not believe she deserves a “break” at all. We can not allow people to put our children at risk. If one chooses to do that with their own, obviously, that is a matter out of my hands for the most part. This woman did not do that, she put every child on the White Pass campus at risk. She has no right to violate the safety of those children, and I dont care whether she has an addiction problem or not. Is jail appropriate? Absolutely. Does she need some rehab too? Maybe so, but that is her responsibility, and maybe she should have attempted to get that before she started acting like she had the right to threaten all the children in East Lewis County, by threatening to kill those whom have been entrusted with their safety. As far as addiction is concerned, it has destroyed my own family, and my biggest issue with it is those making excuses for the offenders in my own family. That is called co-dependency, and it is the worst thing you can do for someone who needs help. She needs to face the consequences of her behavior. Her addiction is her problem, and should not be the responsibility of the “justice” system.

  13. Lisarae says:

    Karol, excusing her behavior includes blaming her behavior on addiction. Im not suggesting she does not need, or should not be afforded the opportunity to “rehabilitate” however, you said so yourself, she has been in and out of incarceration for many years. Sounds like it worked out well for her so far. No, I do not know all the facts, but when you expose yourself on a public forum, you become fair game for judgement. Your statement is an attempt to extract sympathy and a “break” for her. Sorry, I dont have any. Substance abuse is a personal matter as far as Im concerned, until it affects society, and at that point, it becomes a risk to all, including every single child @ White Pass school, who might be affected by some ridiculous behavior of some out of control parent on a mission. Our children are our most precious treasures, and your grandbaby mamma or whatever she is to you, is NOT entitled to put everyone elses children at risk. PERIOD.

  14. BobbyinLC says:

    I think prison time and counseling is the best way. She will not get life and will someday be back on the streets. Let’s give her a fitting punishment and then see if we can help her change her behavior.

  15. ron green says:

    Karol, sorry for the mix up, I was referring to you and yes, I personally know several people that were mixed up with drugs and crime related to drugs who did long (7-12 year) stretches in prison and came out very changed and determined never to put themselves in that situation again. Every one of them says the same thing, 2,3 or 5 years in they weren’t ready to change, they still craved drugs and the lifestyle but after spending 7 plus years locked away from their children and family’s they made the choice to change. It’s hard but losing you life to dope is worse. Hope this gal gets some help and see’s the light, rehab works for some, others need a harsher lesson.

  16. Karol Pedersen says:

    lisaray..i don’t recall excusing her behavior. Lord knows we had a lot of problems with her. i merely stated that in my opinion she needs more then just prison alone.She has been in and out of jails since the age of 16 and everytime she got out she dared the law a little more..By all means she should serve time for the Harm she caused but is that all ? i thought we try to rehabilitate Offenders and or Addicts.so before you know all the Facts..don’t call me pathetic and uncaring.Also, i,m not and never have been her Mother in Law.and i only have one Grandchild from her and he now is safe and sound with he’s Father and starting to be the little happy Boy he once was when they lived together .

  17. Lisarae says:

    @ Karol Pederson~ Drug and alcohol abuse is not at all a valid excuse for pathetic behavior. Threatening to kill public school officials is unacceptable on every level, by anyone, for any reason. Making excuses for those who do it, makes you just as pathetic. This is the mother of your grandchildren. Why is this behavior ok with you? Are you not concerned for their safety and well being? Do not validate this mothers behavior by publicly providing excuses for her. Support her in any way possible in the privacy of your own home, but dont try to convince the rest of us that she is a victim. She is not. And to Uintah….if this mother has the problem her ex MIL indicated, how do you know that school officials are in the wrong at all? Perhaps the communication break down took place with the mother herself. And if she is so concerned about her childs safety, why is she a substance abuser to begin with?

  18. bra~bustn~babe says:

    Moving again? No wonder the bus driver screwed up! Thats all these people do is move all the time!

  19. Karol Pedersen says:

    ron green..You say ” her own mother” her mother passed on over 10 years ago.I,m assuming you are talking about me i,m the paternal Grandmother to her’s and my Son’s little Boy.Yes she has caused upsets in my Family but only when she was on drugs and or alcohol.you say locking her up might do her some good..i disagree.she , in my opinion, needs serious drug and alcohol treatment and perhaps anger management.i know both sides of her personality .clean and sober you could not meet a nicer person but after a few drinks and or drugs she turns to be a very mean and angry person.i pray the law will give her a break and for once try to help her.of course what she did was wrong but do you think Prison alone is going to change her?

  20. Uintah says:

    No, I think only partial justice was done here. As usual, inept Lewis Co. establishment figures get off scot free. What is being done with the busdriver, whose single task is to ship little children safely between their homes and school? The school secretary, who has an obvious problem passing on important information to those who need to get it? And the superintendent, clearly very capable at implementing lockdowns but a sloppy manager of people, at whose desk the buck of child endangerment stops? Geesh, people, does every jury in this county just bend over whenever a $120,000+-per-year prosecutor whispers “Bend”?

  21. ron green says:

    From what I’ve read on this board including comments from this woman’s own mother it sounds like locking her up might do her some good. It’s obvious she has some serious anger issues and also has zero problem solving skills. Lock her up for several years, get her some counseling inside and maybe she will learn that you just can’t go around threatening to shoot people, no matter what the situation that prompted the anger in the first place.